There is absolutely no place for sentiment in cricket selection. The five wise men seemed convinced of the truism and chose a set of probables for the World Cup of 2015 leaving out many of those who made the victory on home soil possible back in 2011.
There was no lingering on Yuvraj Singh who was the player of the World Cup with his consistent performances with bat as well a ball and his knock against Australia in the quarter-final which may have been instrumental in turning India’s fortunes around at the correct time.
No Bhajji either as he is thought to be a spent force, while poor current form saw the omission of the redoubtable openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag.
What we have in new team India is an integrated combination representing the pick of youth to play under the experienced hands of Dhoni, Kohli and Raina.
Time has been the great leveler as far as the golden oldies are concerned. And this could well be Dhoni's last hurrah too. His time may be up when considering how well a young Indian team led by Kohli took up the challenge in the humdinger of an Adelaide Test in which India went down only at the wire, that too after making an improbable dash for victory on the final day.
The World Cup eyeball figures will pivot around Team India even though there are electric contests like Australia versus England and not to forget the matches of the runner-up Sri Lankans with their own following in their home island as well as a diaspora.
It is the size and strength of the Indian diaspora that makes the cricket World Cup a global event with the telecasts to go out all over the world, to a record number of countries this time out. The wishes for an Indian win will be spread across many countries. But then this is cricket and there is also the burden of expectations to carry for Dhoni & company when they start their title defence Down Under.
